Boston >> With history on the line, the champion delivered.
It’s unavoidable now, no matter what Stipe Miocic says or thinks. The Miocic era will go down in the annals of the UFC.
“The Baddest Man on the Planet” is now arguably the greatest heavyweight in the history of the sport. That’s because Miocic is the first heavyweight in the history of the UFC to retain the championship belt three straight times.
On Jan. 20 at Boston’s sold-out TD Garden, Miocic disposed of No. 1 contender Ngannou with a victory by unanimous decision. Each judge had scores of 50-44 in favor of the champion.
>> Photo gallery from Miocic vs. Ngannou
“It was the Stipe show tonight,” Miocic said in his post-fight news conference. “It wasn’t about him, it was about me because I’m the champ. I broke the record. I’m the best.”
Many — including UFC president Dana White — predicted the fight might be the greatest heavyweight bout in the 25-year history of UFC.
That’s debatable. What is not is the way Miocic went about the victory. He used his wrestling background as a standout in high school and at Cleveland State to secure the victory. He took down the challenger six times and wore down Ngannou along the cage.
The win was even sweeter for Miocic, who screamed to the crowd, “I’m having a baby, heck yeah!”
Miocic’s wife, Ryan, is pregnant with the couple’s first child.
Days before the main event vs. Ngannou at UFC 220, Miocic said he “doesn’t need a lot of hoopla about myself.” That’s about to change for the Eastlake North graduate and Northeast Ohio resident.
It was a night shaping up as the defining moment of Miocic’s career and the big guy delivered.
Ngannou came out with several wild left hooks, but missed on all of them. Meanwhile, Miocic connected on two solid rights, and near the end of Round 1 got the first of his takedowns.
>> Video: Miocic on heading home
“I underestimated him, and I went too hard in the first round,” said Ngannou. “If I look back, I would have went slower in the first two rounds and saved my energy. I touched him (in Round 1), and I thought he would go down. He didn’t.”
Ngannou connected with some good shots, and midway through the fight, Miocic had a bloody nose. The challenger connected with a solid right in Round 1, and by the end of the night, Miocic’s left eye was swollen.
“It sucked,” said Miocic of the punch that caused the swelling under his eye. “One punch did it. But I hit him more than he hit me, and that’s why I still have the belt.”
The rest of the way was a takedown clinic by Miocic, who spent most of the last three rounds in the top position controlling Ngannou and sucking the energy out of his opponent.
“If I was in shape in the third round, he would not have kept me down as long as he did,” said Ngannou
The champion also out-struck the challenger, 82-0, in the fourth round alone.
For the entire fight, Miocic had 200 strikes to Ngannou’s 33. He also had the advantage in significant strikes, 70 to 21.
Ngannou talked big prior to Jan. 20, but could not solve Miocic, who looked, fought and wrestled like a heavyweight on a mission. It played out exactly how Coach Marcus Marinelli and the rest of staff prepared the champion.
“We practiced a lot of takedowns, and we wanted to work the single legs,” said Marinelli. “The hold-down positions, we worked on that a lot, and that fell into place very well. He executed (the game plan) awesome.”
Prior to the fight, Miocic deflected talk of breaking the heavyweight record, instead insisting his focus was only on defeating Ngannou.
The attention put on Ngannou had Miocic feeling a bit of “disrespect,” he said leading up to the main event. Ngannou referred to Miocic as the “interim” champ after knocking out Alistair Overeem last December.
On this night, there was nothing interim about Miocic, who now stands alone in the UFC heavyweight record books.
Who’s next is the question for Miocic. In the UFC 220 Fox post-fight, White said he would like to see light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier move up a weight class and next fight Miocic. Cormier fought Volkan Oezdemir in the co-main event and won by a TKO in Round 2. Cormier said in his post-fight news conference he isn’t thinking about a fight with Miocic.
Miocic is in the same boat. In fact, he isn’t thinking about what’s next other than this:
“Man, I just want to go home and see my dogs. Have a beer,” said Miocic.
The heavyweight champion has earned that right.